Lehigh University Men's Track & Field

Khayla Atte ’05 was elevated to head coach for the Lehigh women’s track and field program in August 2022 and added men's track and field head coaching respon...

Brooke Astor ’14 enters her 10th season on the Lehigh track and field coaching staff, having been promoted to the positions of Associate Head Coach and Director of Operations. She moved into a new role as the Director of Recruiting and Student-Athlete Development for the 2022-23 academic year. Astor coaches the multi-events, hurdles and jumps and will now have oversight of student-athlete recruitment, working collaboratively with each head coach and the Associate Athletic Director for Recruitment. Astor will oversee and coordinated student-athlete development initiatives, with an emphasis on Individual Development Plans; and will collaborate with the head coaches on program principles, values, objectives and priority planning. She will oversee the scheduling of all organized team activities and serve as the staff liaison to other support areas within the athletics department. Astor has worked with 23 Patriot League champions covering the multis and jumps. Trevor Knowles won seven Patriot League titles in the heptathlon/decathlon, while on the women's side Courtney Avery won seven Patriot League titles in the high jump and was a two-time All-American. The winner of Lehigh's Graduating Female Athlete Award in 2014, Astor was also a seven-time Patriot League champion and was twice named Patriot League Indoor Field Athlete of the Meet at the league championships. In the 2021-22 season, Astor worked with multi-athletes who scored points at the Patriot League outdoor championships.

Christopher Torpey joined the Lehigh cross country coaching staff in September 2025. Torpey got his start in coaching at the high school level. In 2021, he became the head boys indoor and outdoor track & field coach at Methacton High School, as well as the head gir's cross country coach at Upper Dublin High School. While at Methacton, Torpey played a key role in elevating the distance program to new heights. In his first summer guiding the distance runners, Torpey helped lead the cross country team to their first-ever qualification for the PIAA State Championship. On the track, the majority of his runners made the top-20 school performance list across the distance events, completely overhauling the distance events. In a four year span, his team had 16 athletes and three relays qualify for Pennsylvania state championship meets, with several bringing home state medals in the process. They routinely hit the qualifying standards for the New Balance and Nike national championship meets in the distance medley relay, 4x800, and mile events. In 2022, the team captured Methacton’s first Pioneer Athletic Conference (PAC) championship in outdoor track and field. At Upper Dublin, Torpey led the girls cross country team to a 14-1 record and three Suburban One Liberty Conference Championships. Prior to coaching, the Schwenksville, Pennsylvania native ran cross country at Monmouth University. During his time there he was named to the Northeast Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll, an honor

Men's Track and FieldMcCray, ClevelandAstor, BrookeAtte, Khayla Ayhan, KeremMcCray, ClevelandReichenbach, JackRichards, GavinShuey, MikeTorpey, ChristopherUtesch, Debbie Will-Weber, Mark

The 2025 season marks Debbie Utesch’s 29th year with the Lehigh cross country and track and field programs. She has served as the head women’s cross country coach since 1996, and also served as the head men’s coach until prior to the start of the 2008 season, when her former runner Todd Etters ’02 was appointed head coach of the men. Utesch has coached two female national qualifiers in cross country, including Jen Schappert in 2005 and All-American Elizabeth Weiler in 2014. She has also earned one Patriot League Coach of the Year honor. During the 2021 season, Utesch led the Mountain Hawks to a fifth-place finish at the Patriot League Championships. Lehigh finished 17th at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional and defeated rival Lafayette for the 16th consecutive time. While the Mountain Hawks succeeded on the cross country course, they continued to excel in the classroom. Lehigh was named USTFCCCA All-Academic Team and had 17 student-athletes named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll. Senior Kara Bonner was named Patriot League Sportsmanship Award winner for her leadership within the cross country and track and field programs. Lehigh had its 2020 season pushed to the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Utesch led the Mountain Hawks to a sixth-place finish at the Patriot League Championship where Jamie Zamrin finished 12th overall to be named second team All-Patriot League. Lehigh went on to earn USTFCCCA All-Academic honors as well. Lehigh took fifth place at the Pat

Year Started at Lehigh • 2013 – 2015 Intern • 2015 – Present Personal Information • From Corning, NY • Raised in Upper Black Eddy, PA Education • Palisades High School (Class of 2010) • BS – Sport & Exercise Science, DeSales University (Class of 2015) • CSCS Professional Experience • Palisades High School Football Coach (2012 – 2015) • Speed Advantage Training Head Coach (2013 – Present) Interests & Activities • Cooking, Eating, Lifting, Hunting, Live Music Entertainment • Game of Thrones, The Office, Marvel, Dr. Seuss, Shel Silverstein Quotes to Live by • Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overall & looks like work – Thomas Edison

Gavin Richards joined the Lehigh cross country coaching staff in September 2025. Before securing his first coaching role, Richards competed at Rutgers from 2022 to 2025 as a mile and 800m runner. At Rutgers, he was a captain for three years and competed at 11 Big 10 championships across three sports. He was also a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee from 2022-2024. Richards graduated with a B.S. in Exercise Science from Rutgers as well as a M.S. in Healthcare Analytics. The Annandale, N.J. native began running in middle school, and was coached by professional runners, some of whom went on to be Olympians. He competed for North Hunterdon High School in New Jersey and was a two-time State Group champion in the 1600m. Richards was drawn to coaching because of the positive influences coaches had consistently been throughout his running journey. He had consistently looked up to the coaches in his life and grew an appreciation for what they did and wanted to join the field because of that.

Men's Track and FieldSkip AdReichenbach, JackAstor, BrookeAtte, Khayla Ayhan, KeremMcCray, ClevelandReichenbach, JackRichards, GavinShuey, MikeTorpey, ChristopherUtesch, Debbie Will-Weber, Mark

Karem Ayhan joined the Lehigh coaching staff in 2024 as a volunteer assistant coach with track and field and cross country. Ayhan was a member of the Mountai...

Mark Will-Weber came to Lehigh in 2022 as a volunteer assistant coach with over 40 years of coaching experience. He served as the head cross country coach for Moravian College for almost two decades, and was often the assistant for their track and field team as well. Before coaching, Will-Weber was the co-captain of the East Stroudsburg cross country team. He was twice all-IC4A in cross-country in the mid-1970s, and All-PSAC in cross country in 1975. After college, he was sponsored by Saucony Running in the 1980s. Will-Weber got into coaching when parents in the Lehigh Valley asked him if he would work with their kids in the summer to prepare them for their upcoming cross-country seasons. In 1987, he started serving as the Head Men's Cross Country Coach at Moravian, and became Head Women's Cross Country Coach in 1992. He led the Moravian women’s cross country team to 10 straight Middle Atlantic Conference titles from 1993 through 2002, and three third place finishes at the Division III NCAA Championships in 1993, 1995 and 2001. He also was at the helm of several men's titles over the years. He coached four NCAA Division III champions, as well as more than 20 All-Americans. Outside of coaching, he wrote for Runner's World Magazine from 1987 to 2001 and penned several books about running, including his best-seller "The Quotable Runner." “I've supported the sport of running in all aspects....cross-country, track, road racing. I've done this as an athlete, a coach, and a journali

Mike Shuey joined Lehigh’s track and field coaching staff in the fall of 2025. Prior to his time in Bethlehem, Shuey gained eight years of coaching experience in a private clinic coaching at USA Javelin Project and the NSAF Programs. He has built up a very successful professional career throwing javelin. He was a member of the United States Olympic team for the 2021 Paris Olympic games, as well for the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha. He holds the fifth furthest javelin throw in United States history, and was the US Champion in 2019, a U23 NACAC Champion, and a two-time Big Ten Champion. The Penn State graduate also holds his program’s record for the javelin. The Johnsonburg, Pa. native was drawn to coaching from his time competing in college. He is motivated to help any athlete achieve their goals whether it is to get out of pain or win a Patriot League championship. He brings the same structure that has been used at the Olympic training center that he lived and trained at for several years.